Education Update - November 2006

Dr. Ann Kirschner Heads CUNY Honors College
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
“Honors” is a much-abused word in the academic world, often designating intent or longevity, but at The City University of New York’s five-year-old Honors College, distinction is not a ceremonial award but earned admission and curricular achievement. READ MORE

CUNY’s New Teacher Academy to Educate Middle/High School Math & Science Teachers
By Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.
Responding to a growing U.S. concern about the shortage of secondary school math and science teachers, the City University of New York (CUNY) has rolled out a brand new Teacher Academy on seven of its campuses that will prepare a new generation of middle and high school teachers to educate inner city students in math and science. READ MORE

CUNY’s College Now Program Offers High School Students a Taste of College
By Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.
Picture the city as one great big open campus for public high school students. READ MORE

Profiles In Education:
Seymour Fliegel: President, CEI-PEA
By Lisa K. Winkler
Seymour Fliegel believes in public education. A native New Yorker and graduate of New York City schools, Fliegel spent his career advocating for public education. READ MORE

Gilder Lehrman American History Institute
Celebrates 10th Anniversary at Queens HS
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
And you thought that October 12 was just Columbus Day! According to a proclamation issued by Mayor Bloomberg last month, October 12 is now officially also to be known as Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Day, and nowhere could that announcement have been greeted with more heartfelt enthusiasm than at The Academy of American Studies, located in the Newcomers High School Building in Long Island City. READ MORE

New Educator Conference Panels Look at Key Issues
By Richard Kagan
Among several of the most interesting panels were ones by Professor Onore from Montclair State University and Professor Arthur Costigan from Queens College. READ MORE

The Dean’s Column:
Alphametics Can Provide A Deeper Understanding Of Our Number System
By Alfred Posamentier, Ph.D.
One of the great strides made by western civilization (and learned from the Arabic civilization) was the use of a place value system for our arithmetic. READ MORE

The True Nature of Power & Empowerment
By Jill Levy
Em•pow•er: authorize, allow, sanction to give power or authority to, to enable to permit to commit powers and functions to another as an agent or deputy. READ MORE

A Critical Look At How Public Policy Impacts Education
By Richard Kagan
Jean Maude Anyon doesn’t mince words. READ MORE

Reading Reform Foundation Goes Silver at Its 25th Annual Conference
By Judith Aquino
Although it was an early Sunday morning, by 8:30 am Reading Reform Foundation of New York’s 25th Annual Conference: Effective Techniques for Teaching Reading, Writing, & Spelling, was in full swing at the New York Hilton and Towers hotel on October 22, 2006. READ MORE

Reading Reform Foundation Offers Innovative Literacy Techniques for the Older Learner
By Judith Aquino
The image of a student learning how to read is usually a five or six-year-old child just entering the educational system. Often overlooked are the older learners – students who have attended school for several years, but have not acquired the necessary literacy skills to progress to the next level of education. READ MORE

Guest Editorial:
Comprehensive Educational Equity:
A Realistic Agenda For Revising NCLB
By Michael A. Rebell
Our nation’s stated educational policy under the federal No Child Left Behind Act is to ensure that all of America’s students are provided “a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high quality education” and to close“ the achievement gap between minority and non-minority students, and between disadvantaged students and their more advantaged peers.” READ MORE

Landmark College Offers Hope for Learning Disabled Students
By Sybil Maimin
Set in Putney, Vermont amidst glorious colors in fall and Grandma Moses-like white winters, Landmark College, which opened in 1985, offers students with learning disabilities new hope for success in higher education by providing academics bolstered by cutting-edge learning tools and a well organized, very accessible support structure. READ MORE

Brilliant Alums Honored at CCNY 126th Awards Ceremony
By Liza Young
Presiding over 500 guests in the Marriot ballroom recently, Joe Fleischer, President of the CCNY Alumni Association and CEO of Polshek Partnership as well as Don Jordan Executive VP of the Alumni Association called on a brilliant array of talent to receive the prestigious Townsend Harris medals—including Education Update’s Advisory council member, Dr. Alfred Posamentier, Dean of CCNY’s School of Education. READ MORE

Surviving College
By Rosette Allegretti
“I am officially a college student.” It can feel kind of intimidating, right? READ MORE

Seniors Give Their Views on the College Application Process
By Justine Rivera & Heather Maher
We asked several seniors questions about the college application process and what they are expecting from their college experiences. READ MORE

Bank Street College:
Center for Early Care & Education
By Arlene Uss
The two programs offered by the Center for Early Care and Education (CECE), a department in Bank Street’s Division of Continuing Education (DCE), are not only about promoting quality in childcare services, but also about enhancing the lives of our students and helping them progress in their chosen professions. READ MORE

The College of New Rochelle
The College of New Rochelle (CNR) celebrates 102 years as a Catholic Liberal Arts college that welcomes students of all religions and ethnic backgrounds. READ MORE

Nominate An Outstanding Professor
Lehman College: Professor Louis Flam of the Anthropology faculty has an outstanding collection of materials from Afghanistan and Pakistan. READ MORE

From the NYU Child Study Center: Ask the Expert
How Can I Help a Grieving Child?
By Glenn S. Hirsch, MD
Death and bereavement are topics that are often difficult to talk about and comprehend, for adults and children alike. READ MORE

Treatment & Research for Adolescent Depression
By Julia Perault, B.A., Lucy Buchholz, B.A., & Pauline Hottinger-Blanc, M.D.
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the most common mental disorders of adolescents affecting 15% by age 18, with females suffering the illness twice as often as males. It is associated with other emotional conditions, social and academic impairment, substance abuse, and high risk of suicide, which is the third-leading cause of death in that age group. READ MORE

CAE 10th Anniversary: Reflection And Renewal
By Laurie M. Tisch
It seems not that long ago my dear friend and colleague Schuyler Chapin, then New York City’s Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, asked me to head a new organization focused on restoring arts education in public schools. READ MORE

David Sard, Gifted Playwright, Interweaves Sophocles,
Freud & Life on the Street
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Eddie, Joe, Larry, Sophocles, Freud? It’s not necessary to recognize that in “The Ballad of Eddie and Joe” playwright David Sard is cleverly - and movingly - riffing on the story of Oedipus, but seeing how the Greek myth has been turned into fierce and affecting contemporary theater about foster care, slum life, turf crime and the search for love, certainly adds to the appreciation. READ MORE

From the Top Brings Young Talent to Carnegie Hall & TV Series
By Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.
On a crisp fall day in New York, Krista, Madeline and Jimmy—three high school students from Wisconsin—are practicing a Dvorak string quintet in Carnegie Hall with concert violinist Joshua Bell and classical pianist Christopher O’Riley. READ MORE

Art Educator, Linda Sirow, Exhibits in Hamptons
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Linda Sirow Koplewicz, an artist who teaches at the Dalton School and who has a house and studio in Easthampton, couldn’t ask for a more appropriate venue for her lovely new abstracts —the Silas Marder Gallery in Bridgehampton, off Snake Hollow Road, arguably one of the most beautiful and imaginative exhibition spaces on The East End. READ MORE

St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Opera on the Red Sea
The Sum Of Its Parts Is Greater Than The Whole
By Irving Spitz
This was not Moscow on the Hudson but St. Petersburg on the Red Sea. READ MORE

The Road to Becoming a Piano Tuner
By David Elinson
It was August 1972. I was 20 years old. I had recently dropped out of college after realizing that, aside from gym, recess and lunch, I had never liked school. READ MORE

From The Superintendent’s Seat:
The Health Corps Comes to Syosset
By Dr. Carole G. Hankin with Randi T. Sachs
Childhood obesity, physical unfitness, and substance abuse among children and teens have become far too prevalent in our country. READ MORE

Sir Roger Moore and Jordan’s Princess Badiya Speak at Oxonian Society
By Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.
Sir Roger Moore and Her Royal Highness Princess Badiya of Jordan electrified the crowd at the Oxonian Society’s annual black tie gala last month, offering a packed audience at the Princeton Club very personal insights into the global child health crisis and the relationship between Islam and terrorism. READ MORE

Logos Bookstore’s Recommendations
By H. Harris Healy, III, President, Logos Bookstore
Who is Briton Hadden? The Man Time Forgot. A book of the same title by Isaiah Wilner presents the reader the creation of Time Magazine and the life story of its true founder, Briton Hadden. READ MORE

Book Review:
Violin Dreams: A Memoir
by Arnold Steinhardt
Reviewed by Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Even if you don’t recognize the name of the lead violinist and founding member of the world-renowned, 43-year-old Guarneri String Quartet, you’ll be absolutely delighted by this lively, down-to-earth autobiographical romp about how a kid from L.A., the son of Yiddish-speaking immigrants, who loved ball games, telling jokes and playing pranks, who disliked practicing and who would barge into his room with a body throw to the bed (once, breaking a bow his family could hardly afford), came to trust his ears and heart—and eventually soul—to evolve into a much-revered and admired soloist, orchestral and chamber music player, teacher, scholar and long-time lover of the violin. READ MORE

Using Philanthropy to Combat Third-World Disease
Although no longer a significant public health threat in the U.S., malaria and tuberculosis continue to have a devastating impact on much of the world, particularly in the former Soviet Union and sub-Saharan Africa. READ MORE